Nov 7 (Reuters) - China is seen importing 3.3 million tonnes cotton this year, up 22.22 percent from last year's 2.7 million tonnes, a top industry body official said on Monday.

The international cotton year is from August to July.

China is expected to produce 7 million tonnes of cotton this year, while its consumption is seen at 10 million tonnes, Terry Townsend, executive director of International Cotton Advisory Committee told reporters on sidelines of World Cotton Research Conference.

China is the world's largest exporter of textiles with a global market share of 28.3 percent last year, or 6.6 times India's share of 4.3 percent, Indian government data show.

China is the biggest buyer of the commodity from India, ahead of Bangladesh and Pakistan, he said.

India extended unrestricted cotton exports in the new marketing year after a sharp fall in prices in both domestic and overseas markets and increased supply view on projected record harvest in 2011/12 season.

India contributes 22 percent of global output and is expected to have a bumper harvest of 6.14 million tonnes, pushing it into competition with suppliers from Latin America, Australia and Africa that will squeeze world prices.

"We expect Indian exports to be approximately 1.4 million tonnes," Townsend said.

India, world's second-largest producer and exporter, had exported 1.1 million tonnes last year because of ban on exports and this year we could expect exports returning to the natural levels because of a rise in area, he said.

Exporters say higher productivity could help push the cotton exports figure past a government estimate of 1.2 million tonnes.

"In India area has risen up by a million hectares to 11 million hectares," Townsend said, adding that the crop size would be about 6 million tonnes, "a record for India." This is close to the 6.1 million tonnes projected by India's Cotton Advisory Board.

India has the potential to raise the yield to 800 kilograms per hectares but it requires better technology and application, Townsend said.

Despite rising acreage, India's cotton yields are down to about 475 kg per hectare, or 38 percent below the global average as plants need to be spaced widely for hand picking, in contrast to other leading growers, such as the United States and Australia, which use machines.